Suspected serial arsonist arrested after setting 20 fires across Brooklyn
Surveillance video from around 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 20 shows a man setting fire outside a church on Clinton Avenue.
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A man accused of setting nearly 20 fires during a three-hour spree in Brooklyn has been arrested and now faces federal arson charges, authorities said.
Surveillance video from around 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 20 shows a man setting fire outside a church on Clinton Avenue.
Minutes later, flames broke out on the porch of a home on Pacific Street, where Lauren Beck and Matthew Williams were asleep inside with their 1-year-old daughter.
“Everything was in flames, so it was horrifying,” Beck said.
Williams grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the fire before FDNY crews arrived.
“It wasn’t the 5 a.m. wake up I thought I was going to have on my daughter’s birthday,” Williams said.
Investigators identified the suspect as 32-year-old Bryan Oviedo. Police say the same man is tied to nearly 20 fires that night, some of which caused significant damage.
He was arrested on Sept 13.
Beck said the incident left her family shaken.
“The emotional and psychological damage that followed, knowing he was out there and not really sure who he was and why it happened, left us even more afraid,” she said.
Police say Oviedo has at least six prior arrests dating back to 2014, including charges of harassment and criminal mischief.
“It will be nice to sleep again,” Beck said.
Oviedo is now facing federal arson charges and is expected to be indicted in the coming weeks.
